Arena Football Does the Right Thing

We talk a lot about the Big Four — Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Hockey — but it’s important we don’t forget about the other sports out there. Arena Football has been around since 1987 but reached its peak in 2008 and had a sharp decline after the AFL filed for bankruptcy in 2009. 2016 was its best season since 2010 and it’s on track to continue that streak this year.

This game is exciting and fast paced and we plan to do more coverage in the future. However, what caught our eye this week was the Fans’ Bill of Rights prominently posted under their mission statement. Our favorite rights of theirs are:

“We believe that every Fan is entitled to a total entertainment experience at an affordable cost for all members of the family from the time they arrive at the arena to the time they depart.”

“We believe that every Fan is entitled to interact with and have access to players and coaches for autographs and conversation in recognition of their support at every game. We believe that Fans are entitled to fast, accurate, and complete information about our players, coaches, league, games, and performance.”

Amen! Games are horribly unaffordable to most fans, emphasizing that as a right of fans is an amazing thing. Ticket prices range between $10 and $20 for games -- as opposed to the average football ticket price of $92. There are other great fan rights too that you should check out.

The Fans’ Bill of Rights is the kind of thing that more leagues need to do and enforce. When we searched “bill of rights” on the Big Four’s sites, we came up with nothing. It just goes to show, that when greed sets in, the fans get screwed. We commend the AFL for making fan affordability and fan access a priority. Hopefully, they can set an example to the Big Four.